Wanna Bet? (41 page)

“
So what can we expect from
you now you’re back?” Derek asks. I get the feeling that he’s not
the only one who wants to hear the answer to this.

“
How do you
mean?”

“
Well you obviously went
away for a reason, is all that sorted out now? Are you going to
continue being the life of the party? Are you happy?” he
clarifies.

“
I think I’ve sorted
everything out. I’m definitely happier than I have ever been
before. I won’t be dancing on the bar again that earlier when I
came in was my last ever bar dance. I’m not going to take anymore
bets that result in me loosing any clothes. I’m not going to say
that I won’t take any more bets at all because we all know I will”
I shrug “I haven’t changed or anything, I’m still me. I missed you
all”

“
Before you all leave,
Brooke, come up here please” Will calls out from the stage after
the DJ calls closing.

I head over to the stage
and take the mic Will hands me.

“
So your back?” he asks
grinning.

“
As of Monday, I’m back” I
confirm

“
What do you mean Monday?”
he asks as the crowd groans.

“
I’m not leaving town
again, I just won’t be back here ‘till Monday. I have a few things
that I need to sort out and it’s going to take up all my time” I
confirm.

“
Anything you need help
with?” he asks and then looks at his mic when he realises he spoke
through it but obviously didn’t mean to.

“
No I have a friend helping
me, but thanks for the offer”

“
Well, welcome back anyway
and if you ever think of leaving us again we will chain you to the
stage” he calls through his mic ad then pulls me into yet another
hug. “Now get out of here and we’ll see you Monday” he instructs me
making me laugh.

“
Yes sir!” I answer and
then waving to everyone and calling out ‘goodbye’ I leave the club
and head back to my house.

“
Thank you so much for
helping me” I call to Luke who is packing boxes up with me in my
bedroom.

“
It’s not a problem, you
can stop saying thank you now” he grins at me laughing.

“
I can’t help it, you have
helped me so much these last few months. I owe you big
time”

“
Come on, lets go get some
proper coffee now we’ve packed up your machine” he
suggests

“
Yeah, that was a really
bad idea we should have left that until last”

He picks up his keys but I
shake my head at him and insist we walk, it’ll do us good to get
some fresh air after spending hours packing up dusting
things.

We walk to the nearest
coffee shop and then take a detour around town. I grab his hand and
twirl myself under it a few times.

“
You’re so happy” he laughs
down at me as I do another twirl.

“
I’m gad t be home” I grin
“No where has ever really felt like home before. I feel like I
belong here”

“
I’m glad your happy
Brooke, you out of all people deserve it” he kisses my cheek and we
bump into Tucker.

“
Hey Tuck. I didn’t know
you live here too?” Luke asks him sending me a look that clearly
says I shouldn’t have left that bit of information out.

“
Uh yeah … have done for a
while now” he answers awkwardly. “Are you moving up here?” he asks
him looking at our joined hands.

“
No, just helping Brooke
move” Luke answers easily

“
You’re moving?” Tucker
asks me surprised.

“
Yeah to a different house,
new start” I shrug at him checking his expression. Regret?
Disappointment? I can’t figure it out.

“
Oh, well if you need any
extra help….” He trails off.

“
Umm actually if you could,
I have to go back home tonight” Luke tells him and me for the first
time. I swing my head to him and send him a questioning look. “I’ll
be back tomorrow evening; I just have to pop in to see
Katie”

“
You’re still with Katie?”
Tucker asks looking at our joined hands again.

“
Yeah, we’re married now
and have a baby girl Olivia she’s six months tomorrow” Luke tells
him proudly making me smile remembering how he is with
her.

“
Oh, well congratulations
mate” Tucker shakes his hand, making Luke drop mine.

“
When are you leaving?” I
ask him not sure I want Tucker to be helping me. He hasn’t really
spoken to me since I got back.

“
As soon as I can really”
He tells me. “You’ll help her?” he asks turning to
Tucker.

“
Of course. Now?” he
answers.

“
Yeah okay then I’ll head
back to the house to get my car, I got a spare sets of keys so I’ll
let myself in and out” He leans in to kiss my cheek “I’ll see you
tomorrow, be good”

“
Always am” I smile back at
him and watch him leave.

“
You okay?” I ask turning
to Tucker.

“
Sure, shall we?” he
gestures for me to continue walking, we make our way back to the
house still not really talking about anything of importance just
simple things like the weather, the club and my new
house.

“
You’re very quiet” I note
as we head upstairs to finish packing what Luke and I left. “You
haven’t really said much since I been back”

“
Haven’t I?”

I frown at him still no
where near understanding him and return my attention to packing my
life up.

“
I went looking for you”
Tucker says after a while and we have moved downstairs now that
upstairs is completely packed.

“
You did? You could have
emailed” I reply softly packing my photos from the front
room.

“
I didn’t want to speak to
you, I wouldn’t have spoken to you if I found you, I just wanted to
make sure you were okay. That you were happy” he doesn’t look up
from his box while he talks to me.

“
Oh … umm … I was fine. I
was emailing Lucy every week for the last four or five weeks before
I came back”

“
Mmm hmmm” he nods still
not looking at me and continues packing.

I collapse on the sofa
when everything is boxed up.

“
Glad that’s over” I sigh
“Ugh I have to unpack it all tomorrow” I grumble when reality
settles in.

“
I don’t envy you, I hate
moving” Tucker replies helpfully settling in next to me.

“
I probably won’t even
bother unpacking most of this stuff, just put it in the attic” I
sigh. “I’m starved, I’m going to order Chinese, are you
hungry?”

“
Uh no .. actually .. if
you don’t need me anymore I really should be going” he says getting
up and putting o his jacket.

“
Oh .. okay well thanks for
helping” I try for a smile but it comes out wonky I’m sure. He
offers a small wave from the door before he closes it behind
him.

I eat my food and watch
rubbish TV for the rest of the of the night, my mood has dampened a
bit since this morning. I’m still glad I came back but I don’t know
why it’s so awkward between Tucker and I. I don’t know how to fix
it and that worries me a little. I miss him I really do and I love
him, I’m not sure how he feels about me though and that’s what
bothers me. I can handle it if he doesn’t want to be with me but
I’m not sure how I’ll deal with it if he doesn’t even want to be my
friend. If I learnt anything over the last three months it’s that I
need him in my life.

Luke returns early the next
morning and
finds me going through some
photos from uni, we sit and reminisce for a few hours before we
begin the moving process. I love my new house it’s a three bedroom,
three story house, well four if you include the attic. The front
door leads you into a hallway and it has three doors coming off it,
the first one leads into the coat room, the second one into the
kitchen and the third one into the front room. ,y front room is
huge, its got enough room for my new L shaped sofa, it has a real
fire and a curved staircase taking you to the second floor. On this
floor there is two bedrooms and a family bathroom. I have taken the
bedroom that faces into my back yard. The third floor has only one
room which is an ensuite. I have turned this room into my office
and reading room. The only room that holds anything of my life
before this moment is the spare bedroom. My university hooded
jacket is in a big frame hung above the room and there are photos
of my old group of friends placed all around the room as well as
things from nights out at the club and photos of all my friends
here. The rest of the house just has decoration and art that don’t
mean anything to me, until I gather new things to hang on the walls
and to put on the shelves. I’m sure it won’t take me long to fill
this place with new memories. My favorite new purchase is my bed,
it’s a black iron king size and sits below the huge window in my
bedroom. My old bed is in the spare room and I don’t have any
inclination to sleep in that bed ever again. Saying goodbye to Luke
we both leave the house but head in different directions promising
to visit each other again soon.

“
You look like crap Brooke”
Lucy notes frowning at me. This is the first thing anyone has said
to me since I walked into the club minutes ago. Looking down at
myself I realize I should have changed before I came in. I’m in old
jeans and an oversized tee, tucked in at the front and my hair is
piled in a messy bun on top of my head..

“
Thanks, I love you too” I
return dryly and head into the office to fix myself a
coffee.

“
I hear Brooke’s in the
house, get on up here Brooke wherever you are” I hear Andrew’s
voice come through the speakers as I make my way out of the office
hugging my coffee to my chest. I look up and catch his eye from his
position on the bar. “Shit actually stay right there” he says
worriedly but I’m already making my way onto the bar.

“
Are you okay?” he asks
grabbing my shoulders and searching my face.

“
Guess I really do look
like crap huh?” I ask half joking.

“
What’s
happened?”

“
Nothing, I’m fine” I snap,
fed up of the comments about me looking like hell. I get the point.
He seems to get the message because he leaves it at
that.

“
How’s everyone doing
tonight?” I ask into my mic but my voice sounds dead.

A few people murmur
answers and some of my friends look up at me concerned.

“
Fuck it” I mutter and pass
the mic back to Andrew as I jump back down from the bar.

I head over to greet the
rest of my friends and grab the band their drinks. They all ask if
I’m okay and accept that I’m fine when I say I am. I only last
another hour of serving drinks before I head into the office and
curl up on the sofa in there, within a few minutes I’m fast
asleep.

I wake up an hour or two
later feeling even more exhausted than before I fell asleep. I
seriously don’t think I’m going to make it home and I’m going to
have to spend the night here. Someone has thrown a blanket over me
while I was sleeping and I wrap it around my shoulders as I head
into the bar to get a glass of orange juice.

“
You okay?” Lucy asks as I
take a long drink of my juice.

I shake my head at her
“I’m exhausted” I admit weakly.

“
You look like your going
to pass out Brooke” she says looking concerned as I sway and she
grabs my shoulders frowning.

“
I’m fine I just need to
lie down, I think. I do feel a little dizzy but I’m sure it’s just
because I’m tired”

“
Stay here for two minutes
for me please, just so I know you’re okay. I can’t keep an eye on
you when you’re in there” she says putting down a stool for me that
someone passes her over the bar.

“
Have you eaten today?” she
asks as she swaps my empty drink for a new one.

I’m about to answer her
but my thoughts drift and the memory of Tucker pushing me up
against the office door and bending me over in the stockroom flash
in front of my mind.

We didn’t use
protection…

I haven’t had a period
since …

My stomach turns, nausea
and dizziness flood me “Uh Luce, I need Jess!” I scream panicked
and throw my hand over my mouth swaying on the stool slightly. I
fight against the black spots clouding my vision and shut my eyes
tightly.

“
Shit” I hear her mutter
and then she calls someone over. A few seconds later I’m being
lifted off the stool onto my feet and steered towards the office I
shake my head furiously “Bathroom!” I cry trying to hold the sick
back that’s slowly building it’s way up. I’m guided into the staff
bathroom and set down in front of the toilet where I throw up my
Chinese from last night and my orange juice with a lot of coffee. I
dry heave for a few minutes and then exhaustion settles over me
once again.

“
Not yet you don’t, let’s
get you back in the office” A voice that I think belongs to Tucker
but I’m not sure because I can’t hear it clearly says softly to
me.